Non-Customer view of the 396T Silk Screen Issue

[NWTSCL]

In general, it takes about a month between identifying/validating a firmware issue and resolving it with a tested fix. With a mechanical issue, there are the added logistics of getting parts or other material in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality.

Patience, please.

We are 3 almost 4 weeks into the problem. All you can tell people is "patience, please"?

You haven't determined the cause of the problem? You haven't determined how you will fix things for people who have a defective $600 scanner? Solutions have not come up in meetings between the head honchos? Why is everyone keeping quiet?

All we hear is that some people have received new replacement scanners--and I'm not talking about the 5 original ones that were used to determine the problem.

Uniden needs to provide more information. How long do you think people will wait?

 

[n4voxgill]

On July 17 you said you were not going to buy a 396 until the printing issue was settled. Did you buy one, or just stirring up trouble?

 

[NWTSCL]

On July 17 you said you were not going to buy a 396 until the printing issue was settled. Did you buy one, or just stirring up trouble?

I'm not sturring up anything that isn't already there.

 

[NWTSCL]

The silk print issue hardly makes the 396 "defective". It's a cosmetic issue that doesn't prohibit performance of the scanner in any way.

It sure is defective. Defective is defined as "imperfect in form or function" www.m-w.com. I'd say that adjective fits perfectly. Unless you've come up with your own definition. . .

A sticker is not a very good idea. They require a great deal of skill to place straight and without any bubbles, wrinkles, or other imperfections. They are prone to come off. But mostly, no one else's new, non-defective scanner will be that way--it's not the way these scanners were intended to be. A $600 scanner deserves more than a cheap sticker. I know you're just offering it as a suggestion, but its only a Band-Aid. Band-Aids are not a permanent solution.

 

[Admin0140434]

NWTSCL, be happy that paul participates here...

i dont see radioshack on this site (or the respective YAHOO groups). uniden obviously respects customer intrests. instead of criticizing, how about thanking him for all he does.

 

[NWTSCL]

instead of criticizing, how about thanking him for all he does.

Ok then. . .Uniden, thank you for providing all these people (45 thus far in the "BCD396T Silk Print Issues" thread alone, numerous others who have not listed there) with expensive scanners that have the ink rubbing off through no fault of their own. And thank you for taking such a long time to determine and accept a problem that my litte four-year-old neighbor figured out in just a few seconds. Uniden has never even openly acknowledged the problem and accepted fault. (Starting a thread does not cover this.)

I don't get it. What is wrong with expecting a wrong to be righted? What kind of effort has Uniden given towards this for their customers that the customers themselves did not prompt? We shouldn't have to ride Uniden to get this fixed, but we do. Why are all of you so defensive for Uniden? You don't care that this has happened to people? You'd rather look the other way than to help your fellow man? What is wrong with you people? I don't get it.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

It sure is defective. Defective is defined as "imperfect in form or function" www.m-w.com. I'd say that adjective fits perfectly. Unless you've come up with your own definition. . .

The silk-print issue does NOT affect the function of the scanner. To me, that's not defective, though the dictionary doesn't agree. :wink:

Do you expect your car to be replaced if the paint scratches? :shock:

 

[NWTSCL]

Do you expect your car to be replaced if the paint scratches? :shock:

This does not even compare. Scratching the paint of your car is not the fault of the manufacturer. This ink rubbing off is.

Going off your little car analogy: what would you do if the manufacturer shipped you a car where all the gauges have rubbed off? Or what would you do if the paint rubbed off the first time you washed it? According to your responses in this thread, you'd praise the manufacturer and look the other way.

"Never question anything. Always blindly go along for the ride. . ."

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

According to your responses in this thread, you'd praise the manufacturer and look the other way.

Where did I praise them? I simply said they need time to work it all out, which is just what Paul said as well.

I'm not suggesting that those having the problem should have to live with it, but we all need to give Paul and Uniden time to determine the cause and plan a course of action to remedy it. I'm sure they'll resolve the issue and do the right thing for those users affected by it.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Uniden has never even openly acknowledged the problem and accepted fault. (Starting a thread does not cover this.)

They sure did in an email sent to anyone who registered their 396 at Uniden.com.

RUBBED THE WRONG WAY?
======================
A few early users have also reported short life of the print on the front cabinet on some units. We are actively investigating these reports and have units coming back from customers for analysis. This seems to be an isolated problem, but we are taking all measures to identify the cause, remedy, and scope of the problem. For now, if you have seen this problem on your unit, please be patient. We will contact you when we determine the next steps.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

What is wrong with expecting a wrong to be righted?

What's wrong with giving them time to fully investigate, understand, and remedy the problem?

I seriously doubt that Uniden is going to run and hide from this issue. The 396 is clearly their flagship product right now. I'm sure they've got a lot riding on its success.

 

[NWTSCL]

They sure did in an email sent to anyone who registered their 396 at Uniden.com.

Emailing a select few is not "openly". Regardless, everyone who, for whatever reason doesn't register it at uniden.com, deserves no acknowledgment?

RUBBED THE WRONG WAY?
======================
A few early users have also reported short life of the print on the front cabinet on some units. We are actively investigating these reports and have units coming back from customers for analysis. This seems to be an isolated problem, but we are taking all measures to identify the cause, remedy, and scope of the problem. For now, if you have seen this problem on your unit, please be patient. We will contact you when we determine the next steps.

Read closer. Where does Uniden accept responsibility? Investigating is not accepting. Better yet, where does Uniden acknowledge that the problem even exists?

Contact us? According to "Jason" of Uniden at 800-297-1023, they will not contact anyone, because, as he said it "there's just too many people".

 

[mancow]

Seriously, what can they really do about it, recall all of them?
It's impossible and would blow their profit margin all to hell.
My money's on the bet that we're all going to be SOL.

But hey, they seem to have the best customer service out of any of the manufacturers so hopefully I'll be proven wrong.


mancow

 

[NWTSCL]

Yes, that would not be a good thing. I don't want to see Uniden suffer; I don't want to see anyone suffer. But the consumer should not bear it. Quality control is important, and Uniden should not trivialize everyone's $600. Who should pay...? Leaving everyone for SOL would cost them dearly also. Also, it was mentioned that the 396 is their flagship. As such, you would think that they would be all over this problem; how could they sleep without a plan for prevention and without a solution? But we aren't hearing a peep about it.

Personally, I would never get into the scanner manufacturing business--there are too many details that could go wrong. Uniden knows this; they knew what they were getting into.

 

[Jay911]

Uniden should not trivialize everyone's $600.

How are they trivializing it?

Paul is actively working on a solution. He's not going to be able to pull one out of his hat, and the fact that he IS doing SOMETHING is much more than I can say about any other manufacturer or retailer I have ever done business with.

And yes, the cars analogy IS a good one. In the 80s and 90s, GM had a severe problem with paint flaking off their vehicles. It is not uncommon to see a GM vehicle from that era that is over 90% primer grey due to the worn-off paint. Your constant complaining is like a GM owner with bad paint demanding a solution 3 weeks into the production run. It just won't happen. How widespread the problem is has to be researched, as well as what the possible causes might be. That's why Paul is asking about any special observations or conditions in the thread about this issue.

If having the keypad wear off of a scanner indicates that it is 'broken' or 'nonfunctional', then all 5 of my Uniden handhelds and all 3 of my RS handhelds are all broken. However, every last one of them still receives and outputs the audio quite decently. And that's the purpose of a scanner.

I admit to feeling a little perturbed when I finally noticed that my 396 was suffering from the same fate as the others, but it's not something to have a stroke over. Besides the fact that 90% of the time it's going to be under computer control, so I don't intend to mess with the keypad too much and further wear off the lettering, I know that Uniden at least gives a crap about this and is addressing the issue, unlike for example my PRO-43, which was in the Intertan repair center 5 times for keypads that died, and all they would do is keep replacing it instead of finding the true problem.

I respectfully suggest that if having the legends rub off the face of your scanner poses an immediate problem which you cannot bypass and causes you to be completely and totally unable to use your scanner, perhaps you should send it back for a refund and try something else.

And by the way - if you paid six hundred dollars for your scanner, you got robbed.

 

[NWTSCL]

Paul is actively working on a solution...and the fact that he IS doing SOMETHING is much more than I can say about any other manufacturer or retailer I have ever done business with.

And this you know how? Because he posted it on the internet? Do you know him personally? Are you watching first-hand what Uniden is doing? He has never said what is happening.

Your constant complaining is like a GM owner with bad paint demanding a solution 3 weeks into the production run. It just won't happen.

I asked some simple questions of Uniden. It's too bad that you mistake questions as criticism. I guess everyone should never ask questions.

If having the keypad wear off of a scanner indicates that it is 'broken' or 'nonfunctional', then all 5 of my Uniden handhelds and all 3 of my RS handhelds are all broken. However, every last one of them still receives and outputs the audio quite decently. And that's the purpose of a scanner.

You need to re-read what I wrote.

I respectfully suggest that if having the legends rub off the face of your scanner poses an immediate problem which you cannot bypass and causes you to be completely and totally unable to use your scanner, perhaps you should send it back for a refund and try something else.

Most (if not all) distributors will not allow returns and Uniden certainly won't. If they do, why aren't they offering it...?

And by the way - if you paid six hundred dollars for your scanner, you got robbed.

Again, you need to pay closer attention to what people write.

 

[NWTSCL]

[quote ="MarkEagleUSA"] Knowing why they are bad needs to be determined before anything else can be done.[/quote]
You're thinking too much on the terms of Uniden and not on terms of a consumer. Let them solve their own problems.

Uniden knows how to produce them without having the face plate markings rub off. This is obvious because they already have produced some that do not. Bigger still, they've been in this business for years and have produced numerous scanners where the ink does not rub off. The already know how to do it. In fact, look at every electronics manufacturer in the world. They all know how to do it; it isn't a trade secret. How much "research" is needed...? They obviously don't care to know what happened "before anything else can be done"--they are still producing and selling them without declaring a cause and solution.

Thinking back to it, Uniden still has not addressed the two original questions of this thread: (1) "how long will it take to decide the cause and the fix?"; (2) "Should I contact Uniden's Customer Service and get on a list or is posting my serial # and other info in the other thread good enough for now."

Doesn't the avoidance of these questions strike you arguers as odd? Or are you to enamored by Uniden to notice?

What motive does Uniden have to correct things if you as consumers do not complain? Uniden would love it if everyone would just look the other way. Wake up people! Else I would gladly take your $500+ in exchange for something that isn't produced right.

"The squeeky wheel gets the oil. . ."

 

[n4voxgill]

NW do you own a 396? Simple question.

 

[jsmeed]

Paul (Silk Print Issue)

[quote ="MarkEagleUSA"] Knowing why they are bad needs to be determined before anything else can be done.

You're thinking too much on the terms of Uniden and not on terms of a consumer. Let them solve their own problems.

Uniden knows how to produce them without having the face plate markings rub off. This is obvious because they already have produced some that do not. Bigger still, they've been in this business for years and have produced numerous scanners where the ink does not rub off. The already know how to do it. In fact, look at every electronics manufacturer in the world. They all know how to do it; it isn't a trade secret. How much "research" is needed...? They obviously don't care to know what happened "before anything else can be done"--they are still producing and selling them without declaring a cause and solution.

NW,
Uniden is quite capable of producing scanners that have robust lettering. In this case, for some reason, the lettering is wearing off. It sure sounds like a quality issue (probably a sub-supplier) and it takes some time to figure that stuff out. The worst thing that can happen is that they "fix" the wrong thing and have to go and get the units back a second time.

Additionally, the question has been asked twice already, do you have a 396? If not, why do you care and why should Uniden listen to anything you have to say???

 

[NWTSCL]

Re: Paul (Silk Print Issue)

Additionally, the question has been asked twice already, do you have a 396? If not, why do you care and why should Uniden listen to anything you have to say???

Because I care about my fellow human beings. Don't you?

Why are you getting so personal? What difference does it make if I personally own one or not? I know several people who do, and I'm helping to voice, not only my thoughts, but their thoughts as well. Uniden should listen to what everyonehas to say. I'm a consumer just like everyone else.

Why would you purchase anything from a company that doesn't listen to consumers? Or do you normally throw money out the window?